Practical approach for new Husker quarterback

Steve Ryan

08/09/2006

When Brian Hildebrand saw the developing situation with Harrison Beck, he had to empathize a bit with the former Husker QB. Not about just up and leaving without a word, but the situation itself. It's what put him at Mt. San Antonio College and what ultimately now has him heading to Nebraska. In hindsight, for him, it was the right decision to make.

Just over a year ago
Mt. San Antonio College freshman
Brian Hildebrand was at OregonState, trying to work his way up the depth
chart. As schools are going to do, though, another quarterback came in and the
competition got that much stiffer. Hildebrand thinks of that time and it wasn't
the competition that bothered him. It was the fact that this new addition to the
team got instant recognition with the coaches.

"They brought Matt Moore in and
he instantly got most of the reps," Brian said. "I already hadn't enjoyed my
time there, because it just wasn't the place for me. But when Matt started
getting most of the reps after having just gotten there, I figured that it was
time for something new."

Brian informed the coaches, made
arrangements and made his way down to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

Hildebrand thinks about his
impending trip to Nebraska after he finalizes
his schooling at Mt.SAC, having to take an Oceanography lab.
The Huskers will be over a week into fall practice, looking at just around three
weeks before the beginning of the actual season when Nebraska hosts Louisiana Tech. Three weeks? Heck, that's old hat for Hildebrand.

"I got to Mt.SAC and I had like two weeks to learn
their offense and I was starting the first game," he said. "Nebraska is a lot
different, but I know what it's like to learn on the run."

While Brian started the first
game, he would eventually split reps with two other quarterbacks as the season
went along, Hildebrand ending the season with five games played, leading the
team in completion percentage (56.6) and yards per game, averaging 158.2 yards.
Brian totaled 791 yards on 56 completions, throwing three touchdowns.

It wasn't a wealth of experience,
but from the hurried fashion in which he was thrown on the field, he thinks it
will have taught him a lot about what he's going to be dealing with very soon.

"Coach Norvell said that in the
NFL, they get free agents and have to gets these guys into the system as quickly
as a week sometimes," Brian said of conversations with quarterback coach and
offensive coordinator Jay Norvell. "I guess they are used to teaching guys on
the run."

That's what Hildebrand will be
the instant he arrives in Lincoln and while he's anticipating a very fast
introduction followed by a force feeding of the offense, there's no nervousness
with the JUCO QB. "I'm anxious, not nervous. There's a lot I will have to learn,
but I am excited to learn it as quickly as I can. I have heard all kinds of
stories about the west coast offense, but it's not intimidating," he said. "It's
exciting to learn something new."

Obviously Brian wouldn't have
thought of himself as a Cornhusker, even after he had made the trip from
OregonState to Mt.SAC. He didn't know much of the big red,
outside of what little you see on TV. As he has learned about them, though, and
the direction the program is going, he said that it didn't take long for him to
figure out that Nebraska was where he wanted to be.

"It seemed like a good
opportunity for me and really the kind of opportunity I was hoping to get,"
Brian said. "I know they have Zac Taylor there, so it's not like I am going to
be thrown right on the field. I want to play. Everyone does, but I know that I
still have a lot to pick up."

Back to the Beck situation,
again, Hildebrand felt a little empathy toward Beck, but only from the situation
of where he stood on the depth chart. Beyond that Beck tread into areas
Hildebrand wouldn't go. He thinks back to his own situation and while he admits
that sometimes you just want to go, taking the long road can ultimately be the
best choice.

"For me, it's just that if I did
that or something like that, how many schools would have really been looking at
me right now," Brian wondered. "It was frustrating at OregonState, but you have to do things the right
way."

"It's only fair to the coaches,
your players and everyone else. Sometimes it's hard to do that, but in the end,
it's really the only thing I could do."

As for his future at Nebraska, the 6 foot, 3
inch QB said that he's not thinking about big numbers, big opportunities and
big-game moments, where he can show what he can do. He's not thinking of luster,
TV time or how quickly he can move up the chart. He's thinking about a playbook,
his teammates and school, because those are all things that he knows will matter
the most once he steps on campus.

It's not about the future. It's
about right now.

"When you are younger it's easy
to look a little too far ahead, but I have learned over time that you just
concentrate on what you are doing right now," he said. "I have goals, but I know
that everything is one step at a time and that's how I plan to treat this."

"I'll do the best I can, learn as
fast as I can and hopefully have a chance to play early. But I won't worry about
that, because that doesn't help you or your team. I'll just do whatever I can to
be an asset and just take things as they come."

"I'm just going to take it one
step at a time."

Hildebrand will have three years
to play three, having used his redshirt year at OregonState